Like a Spilt Glass of Tomato Juice
by gill-crazy
Summary: Akari gets the wrong idea from Gill's bouts of joy and confesses, but when he rejects, she finds love in another person; Gill realizes he actually loved her. What will happen to poor Gill? GILL/AKARI/JULIUS
1. It's only the beginning

Gill would rather quiet girls, but soon enough, an exception came to that rule…

He stepped outside of his home and headed off to the Town Hall, looking straight ahead and not looking at any of the others going to work.

"Hey, Gill!" a voice called behind him. He turned, curious to see who it was, when he saw the new farmer… _What was her name again…?_ _Atari, perhaps…? Wait, it's Akari._

"Hello." He stood impatiently, waiting for what she was going to say, when he saw a bottle of tomato juice being offered to him.

"I looked through the villager files, and found out you love tomato juice!" Akari exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face. "Have it."

She pushed it into his arms and he said, confused, "Umm, thank you?"

"No need," she nodded, "I grow tomatoes on my farm. It's virtually free."

The two stood there, a silence between them since Gill was not one to make small talk.

"Oh, well…" the brunette looked at a small wristwatch she had on her arm. "I'd better run, or my cows will get angry at me! 'Bye!!"

She hurried off, back down the dirt path she had come from.

Gill turned and walked up the steps to the Town Square.

---------------

When he finally was freed of work, he sighed. Now, he would be condemned to do virtually nothing. He decided to write in his diary…

"Hi Elli!" an awfully familiar voice called. "Oh, hi Gill!"

He closed his diary and looked up into Akari's honey-brown eyes.

"Are you busy?" she asked, looking at him intently. Since she didn't see any paperwork upon scanning his desk, she smiled. "You aren't, are you?"

"What does it matter if I'm busy or not?" he grumbled.

"Well, actually, I was wondering…"

---------------

"How about this book, it has romance AND adventure in it," Gill said with gritted teeth. Akari's tastes were insane, of course there were no books with romance, adventure, sci-fi, AND mystery in them!

"But where's the sci-fi and mystery?" Akari pouted.

"There is none!" he cried, exasperated. "Are you trying to kill me or something?!"

Suddenly, Akari's pout turned into a smile, and then a laugh. Gill looked at her, confused.

"So even the ever-calm Gill can get angry…" she murmured to herself. "Okay, I'll take this one!" She waved the first book Gill showed her, and he rolled his eyes.

After checking out the book, Akari bounded out of the Town Hall, quite happy with tormenting the serious boy. Gill sat down in his seat and let out a huge sigh. He glanced at the clock and then his eyes widened. It was the end of work.

"Gill, tonight's my turn to close up the Town Hall," Elli reminded him politely. "You can leave, you know."

He nodded and left, saying only a curt goodbye.


	2. Morning Walk

The next morning, Gill awoke peacefully, and checked the clock… _8 o'clock?!_

He jumped out of bed and then realized…

It was a Sunday.

He groaned. He was already awake now, so there was no use going back in bed. He dressed and decided to take a morning walk. It would calm him down, and then perhaps he could continue with his regular schedule.

The morning breeze felt refreshing as he stepped out of town and continued on the dirt path. He subconsciously continued until he noticed, _Wait, isn't this the farmer's place?_

The blonde decided to make a detour to Maple Lake District, but all too soon, he heard:

"Oh, Gill! What are you doing here?"

Akari stopped in front of him and pushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Just walking," he said blandly.

"That's nice," she commented. "Hey, would you like to see my cows?"

"Well, I was planning to just walk by---"

"None of that nonsense! Come on, it's just cows, they won't kill you," she chided him, dragging him into the barn. Her smile lit her face up. Gill wondered why she was so happy about showing him her cows.

"This is Chocolate," she said, motioning to the brown cow excitedly, "and this is Vanilla!" She pointed at the pale cow with black patches on it.

He stared at them for awhile until Akari caught his drift.

"… You really want to leave, don't you." It was a statement, not a question. Gill nodded.

"I have to be off," he agreed.

She looked at the floor, obviously saddened. Gill was confused, but he didn't think leaving a girl sad was the right thing, so he added,

"You can join me if you want."

He swore Akari's smile right then could light up the world.

--------------

The two walked, Akari blushing a little, and Gill looking straight ahead. He wasn't used to walking with someone.

"Gill," she asked, "why are you so uptight? I mean, you're really serious, and you never really talk to anyone…"

"I don't need to share my views with people I find insufficiently intelligent." His statement caused Akari to blush and say, "Oh…"

It was an awkward silence. Gill didn't really know what to say, and he suspected neither did the farmer girl. And why was her face red like that whenever he looked over at her?

The two ended up walking for a longer time than expected… Akari had managed to get Gill to talk a lot more than he thought he'd talk to the brunette. She smiled so often.

Finally, Gill was left alone when she remembered she needed to run her errands. However, he was asked to a picnic at noon at Caramel Falls. He didn't know why, but he accepted. Perhaps it was because she seemed to not care about his efforts to stay away from her (and people in general). He headed home to prepare himself for the picnic…


	3. Picnic Time!

It was exactly noon when Gill showed up at Caramel Falls. Akari was sitting on a picnic blanket when she turned and noticed him. She invited him to sit and smiled.

"So you did come!" she exclaimed happily, taking out sandwiches from her picnic basket. She also had a bottle of tomato juice and a bottle of orange juice, the tomato juice she handed to the blonde. He murmured thanks and then accepted a sandwich that she had prepared (with tomato in it, of course). He looked, impressed by the ambience. He rarely visited this part of the island.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" she asked, smiling. "When I saw this place, I figured, 'What a nice area to have a picnic!' and so I asked you."

Gill cocked his head over to the side slightly in confusion. "Why did you ask me?"

Akari's face turned beet red and she waved her hands a bit as she replied:

"Well, uh, I figured you'd be lonely and have no one to have lunch with! And I thought, maybe since I have lots of extra tomatoes, why not ask you… And err… I guess that's how it happened!"

The blonde took in the explanation, raising a single eyebrow. He obviously didn't buy it, but what other reason could she have…?

The two ate their sandwiches in silence, Akari occasionally 'sneaking' glances at him. He knew she was looking, but paid no attention to it. He finished off his sandwich, wiping his mouth with the napkin. When Akari finished as well, Gill noticed the sky was cloudy, and perhaps it would rain… As he expected, a fat drop fell onto his head and he looked to see the brunette's expression. Akari sighed.

"I guess you should go," she said. Gill nodded.

"Yes… Maybe I can actually get some work done?" he remarked, and Akari turned away from him.

"It's not like I'm that bad!" she replied huffily, getting up and gathering her things. "Well, anyway, we should get going before the rain starts to get worse."

Gill nodded again. "By the way, thanks for the meal." Akari turned to face him and smiled.

"No problem!" she cried, her shy smile turning into a grin. She ran off, leaving Gill alone to think. He decided to hurry on to work.

When he reached the Town Hall, Elli looked up from some paperwork she was doing and smiled.

"Gill!" she exclaimed. "How was the picnic? Akari told me that she invited you…"

"It was fine," he replied, sitting at his desk. Elli giggled secretly to herself and the two worked for the rest of the day.

---------------

**Sorry this chappie is so short! The next chapter will be probably from Akari's POV, just to spice things up a little. :)**


	4. I think it's love

**This is Akari's POV! Don't be confused… XD**

---------

Ever since I saw him, you could say I was trying to find out more about him. Sure, that's how I am, curious, right? It makes perfect sense. I'd visit Elli and him everyday at the Town Hall, talking about my farm to Elli and sneaking looks at Gill. He seemed… So bored, so… I don't know how to say it, but it seemed he NEEDED something to pick up his life and make it a lot more exciting. And so, I intervened. I read up on him in the villager files and got him tomato juice. That's how it all started.

I gave him the red liquid everyday, always saying starting up a conversation. He never really responded much. I wondered what was wrong with him, until Elli told me that his behaviour was normal. I disagreed, and somehow, ended up showing Gill my cows one Sunday morning. It all happened so fast, and I didn't know how to slow it down… And I got to walk with him.

Yeah, yeah, not so important, you must be thinking. Gill's arrogant, stuck-up, and too serious, you must be thinking as well! And so, I object. I actually got him to talk a lot during the walk we went on after. It was so enjoyable. And I even got to sneak some looks at him! I wonder if he noticed. He is VERY good-looking, am I right? I guess that makes me blush every time I look at him. There's no other reason! Of… of course not! What are you thinking this time?!

In any case, that was fun and all, but I actually mustered up the strength to ASK HIM OUT! Well, not really out, but on a picnic! And he said yes! You have no idea how high I felt at that very moment, the second his hesitant agreement left his mouth. Oh, how happy I was!

The picnic itself was pretty uneventful, unfortunately. I couldn't really pick up my strength again so soon, so I guess it's okay for now. Gill seemed a bit better than before… Or is it just me? I hope to the Goddess not.

And now, here I sat, hiding in the tomato fields. (Yup, I even grow them for him!) Why? I just felt like taking a break… It's hard work, to farm! I think tilling the land is one of the hardest parts! Especially when it's a hot, sunny day out… Eh. So annoying… I should have gone to milk my cows, but I just couldn't stand at the moment. The heat was killing me! I'm sure it was, slowly but surely… I looked up and shielded my eyes from the sun. It was so bright…

I can't really remember what happened after that… I was asleep, I believe, because when I awoke, it was by someone roughly shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Gill's face, dangerously close to mine. Before I could speak, he stood up and asked me,

"What were you doing, napping right out in the sun?!" I looked up at him, still a bit tired.

"Gill…?" I asked, suddenly taking in his beautiful features again and blushed. I bet he noticed, because he rolled his eyes and held out his hand. "What are you doing here?"

"Get up," he commanded, a gentle edge to his voice. "I came to give you something."

I took his hand gratefully and he pulled me up. Right after, he let go of my hand and rummaged in his pockets, taking out a silver ore. My eyes widened. What…?

"I figured I should give you this," he said, holding it out. I accepted it graciously.

"Thank you!" I smiled. "But… why?"

"I figured you could sell it, or something," Gill told me. "You might be able to make more money and afford a parasol to sleep under next time." I laughed at his obvious mockery of me obliviously and my smile got wider.

"You're awesome, you know!" I exclaimed.

"Well, I have to leave," he said, turning to start on his way back. "Good-bye."

I held the ore in my hands, looking at Gill's retreating figure with a now confused face.

_Why, by the goddess, did he give me an ORE?!_


End file.
